THE CUCKOO'S NEST FOLK CLUB

(a non-profit collective promoting traditional & roots folk music in London since 1973)

2025-2026 CONCERT SCHEDULE

Please Note: All remaining concerts in this season

(except Melisande on Fri. May 1) will be at the

German Canadian Club, 1 Cove Road, London, ON N6J 1H7

OUR NEXT CONCERT

Presented by Cuckoo’s Nest in cooperation with London Irish Folk Club

Iona Lane with Terra Burgoyne (harp/clarsach)

(from Scotland)

Sunday, April 12, 2026 – 7:30 pm

(Food service available from 6:00 – 8:00 pm)

German Canadian Club, 1 Cove Road, London, ON N6J 1H7

Advance tickets - $25

Swilkie, the new album from Highlands-based songwriter Iona Lane, weaves ecology, conservation, islands and folklore into poetic songs and contemplative melodies. Written during three residencies on the Isle of Eigg, Isle of Mull and Sanday in Orkney, sense of place and landscape are at the core of these songs. From basking sharks to lighthouses, lichen to vanishing islands, curlews to tree planting; the album was recorded in a boathouse on the West Coast of Scotland, and the eager listener may even hear the lapping sound of the tide murmuring through the album. Iona’s connection to places by the sea is translated through these songs with evolving vocal melodies, subtle guitar and droning shruti box. “For Iona Lane, community and music are inextricably tied to ecology and landscape, and in Swilkie, she has created an album that celebrates that link and calls for us all to recognise its importance.” - KLOF Mag (2025).

“Iona’s expressive singing and insightful writer’s voice are quickly cementing her presence as a key figure in modern folk. She is a fine handler of traditional repertoire and an immensely skilled guitarist, and the gorgeous natural-mythological commentaries she explores in her own songs link ancient and often unheard histories with the world we find ourselves in today.” - Nancy Kerr (2021)

Terra Burgoyne is a clarsach player based in Knoydart, Scotland. She plays and sings Traditional music and is an honours graduate of The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She has performed with RCS at Celtic Connections on multiple occasions and in 2019 she was selected to be part of Ùr, a group of students chosen to play at the Celtic Colours festival in Cape Breton.

For Information call 519-319-5847 or e-mail folk@iandavies.com

MELISANDE

(presented by Sunfest in cooperation with Cuckoo’s Nest Folk Club)

Friday, May 1, 2026 – 8:00 pm

Please Note: Special VENUE for this concert

Met Underground at Metropolitan United Church,

468 Wellington St, London

(Doors at 7:30 pm)

Advance tickets - $25

Celebrating the 10^th anniversary of her [Electrotrad] project, Mélisande revisits songs from her repertoire with a traditional Québécois sound, mostly acoustic, surrounded by four seasoned musicians - long time accomplice former Genticorum member Alexandre de Grosbois-Garand (wooden flute, bass), Jean Desrochers (acoustic guitar), Gabriel Girouard (fiddle, foot stomping) and Éric Breton (percussion). A multiple award-winning singer, Mélisande selected songs from her four previous releases to create the album Rembobine (Rewind). These songs were found by researching folklorists’ collections and archive centres, and by collecting traditional songs from elders along Quebec’s Richelieu River. Mélisande (lead vocal, jaw harp, mandolin) cleverly enlivens the songs of ancestors in a way that invites youth culture to participate in something old made new again. Her rich musical background and her mesmerizing voice give a fresh take on these traditional songs that she adapts and presents with a modern woman’s perspective. With her infectious energy and engaging stage presence, Mélisande gets the crowd stomping, dancing and singing wherever she goes.

Mélisande's Rembobine album associated with this show has been recently nominated for 3 awards (Canadian Folk Music Awards - Solo Artist / Traditional Singer, GAMIQ - Traditional Album). The show has been presented at several folk festivals in Québec and Australia and was selected for official showcases at the Northern Turtle Island Collective @ Womex (UK), Your Roots Are Showing (Ireland) and Folk Alliance International (Montréal, QC). Also, Mélisande was featured at Sunfest '25 and did amazing performances for us. Visit melisandemusic.com for more on the band.

For Information call 519-319-5847 or e-mail folk@iandavies.com

Presented by Cuckoo’s Nest in cooperation with London Irish Folk Club

MOONFRUITS

Sunday, May 31, 2026 – 7:30 pm

(Food service available from 6:00 – 8:00 pm)

German Canadian Club, 1 Cove Road, London, ON N6J 1H7

Advance tickets - $25

2024 Canadian Folk Music Award nominees Moonfruits (Emerging Act & Producers of the Year) craft contemporary folk that addresses our collective humanity with heart, wit, and wonder. Led by partners Alex Millaire and Kaitlin Milroy, Moonfruits pen songs in both French and English, a reflection of their bilingual lived experience in their hometown of Ottawa. Theirs is the music of open-minded dreamers and diligent doers, confronting dehumanizing capitalism and environmental catastrophe with a rousing message of solidarity. This Stingray Rising Star, SOCAN, and Trille Or award-winning group has toured their transportive live show across Canada, the US and Europe. In 2021, the duo co-wrote, arranged, and played in Moby: A Whale of a Tale, premiered on a ship in Toronto’s harbour, recipient of four Dora awards.

Moonfruits’ lushly orchestrated sophomore album, Salt, weaves stories of family, responsibility and loss in this era of climate change and deepening inequality. It is rooted and astral, tender and powerful, foreboding and hopeful, cradling all the convictions and contradictions of its songwriters. Moon Cradle, its dreamy harp-string-and-voice laden closing track, won the Capital Music Awards for Best Production and Arrangements.

Live, expect a dynamic performance with warm, welcoming harmonies ranging from raucous to whisper quiet, innovative arrangements with bowed guitar and banjo, a little knob-tweaking and a hefty dose of family-fueled storytelling. Singing in English and French, Moonfruits love to open their audiences’ ears and hearts to sounds unfamiliar and adore a good singalong.

“the future of roots music is in good hands” — Heather Kitching, Roots Music Canada

“a tremendous live act ... they absolutely brought the house down” — Jan Hall, Folk Roots Radio

For Information call 519-319-5847 or e-mail folk@iandavies.com

All concerts at begin at 7:30 pm and most are held at the German Canadian Club, 1 Cove Road, London (unless otherwise indicated)

Advance tickets can be purchased during the season at Grooves (Wortley Village),

Long & McQuade North (Fanshawe Park Rd W) and online.

For Information call 519-319-5847 or e-mail folk@iandavies.com

Special Advance “5-for-4” Multi-Ticket is available for $100 only at the Concerts
(pay for 4 concerts and get the 5^th one free)

We continue to be a completely volunteer run organization. We thank you for your support of live music and look forward to seeing you at the concerts. – Ian Davies, Artistic Director.

What’s happened so far in the 2025-26 Season

Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025 – Friends of Fiddler’s Green - SOLD OUT!